Electronic transport in hydrogenated microcrystalline silicon (mu c-Si:H) films largely depends on size and shape of small crystallites columnar grains, the fraction of amorphous silicon (a-Si:H) matrix, and the highly defective grain boundaries (GBs). Based on these we describe two simple 1-D models of mu c-Si:H depending upon the conduction path. Two applications of these models are presented using A-MPS-1D. First, we study the electronic transport in intrinsic mu c-Si:H for thin-film transistor (TFT) application. Second, we analyze the performance of thin film p-i-n mu c-Si:H solar cells with varying column heights in the intrinsic mu c-Si:H layer. Such a study should lead to the identification of optimum process conditions of the preparation of these films by the Cat-CVD process. (c) 2005 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.